Can opener



A. P. STEBIER.

CAN OPENER.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 5. 1920.

Patented J an. 31, 1922.

U NrreEifDf! ser ALBERT P. STEBLER, oF-'NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK.

' cany OPENER( To 'ZZ 't0/1,0m #may concern:

Be it known lthat I, ALBERT P.' STEBLER, a

citizen` of` th'e United States, residing iii- NiagaraFalls, in thecounty of'Niagara andV State of New York, have invented new and' usefulImprovements in Can Openers, of

which .the followin-gis a specification.

This invention relates to acan'opener and has for its object theAproduction of a can opener'which Vcan be readily: advanced after eachvcutting stro ke,fwhichi is Ino t'liable to slip out oftheslitzii'rthecan during thecutting operation, which reliably holds downthe severed part ofthe canso4 as to permit of making a clean cutin"tli`e"caii;close to the body' of the same, which is. not liable toslip on the can and injurethehand'of'the operator, and which is simplein construction, 'efHcient iii-operation and capable of beingmanufactured' at'low cost; In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 isajperspective. view'of my improved can Vopener showing the lsaine inposition ready to 'begin a cutting stroke on theli'd ofA the can. Figure'2 .is a vertical longitudinal sec' tion of th'esaine taken inaplane Aparallel with the direction'of the cutting movement'. andonxl'ine 2 2, Fig. 3. .Figure 3 is a sec-.,

i 'tional view taken Online 3 3, Fig. 2.V Figure 4 is a fragmentarylongitudinal section taken onv lineV L.l-4:, F ig. 5' and viewing thecutting blade from the side opposite to 'that .shown'finFigs 1Land'2.Figure 5 is a'ver` tical transverse section taken on line 5-'-5, Fig.etz'. Figure 6 isa detached perspective view of 'the shank and blade.Figure 7 is asimilar view ofthel bearing device forming v lpart of thevcan opener.v Figure S'isa similar view oftheV blank fromv which thehearing device'i's constructed.' 'Figure 9 Vis .afiagf meiitarysectional elevation of 'a can` showing its lid'cutiout iii va manner'contemplated by my l improved ca-nf opener.

Similarcharacters of reference refentoI gin its cutting action uponturning thesaine is more particularly designed for cutting outV acircular-hdl() from the.head of ak can close.

tothe inner.y Sideofthe cylindrical wall 'or Vbody'll thereof leavingthe. seam l2 which connects the-head with thebody attached to thelatter, as -shown in Fig. 9,' thusavoiding 'a' ragged'edge ontli'e'open'ed can an'dper- -cuttii'ig'edge l5' i's formedon theperiphery-,Q

Specification offLettersTateiit-V v Patented .JalL 3L 1922:AptiicationnieaNovember's,1920. ser'iai'n. 421,812. ,c l

niittingof using the same as acup or receptacle'in the kitchen orelsewhere;

In'itsgeneral organization my improved,"- can'opener comprises alongitudinal shank" provided with a 'cutting bla'de, a bearingrde. vicefor.y 'supportingthe tool o the'can, 'and'V ali'andle for operatingthetool.y i

The shank lis preferably'` constructed lof." a strip or bar ofmetal'such as iron or'st'e'el, which` is'y flat` and "provided" withupper and?. lower longitudinal edges.j The cutting blade downwardly fromthe front endjof theshanlrand is formed integrally therewith. 'Thethereof land "extends j from .the pointedffront end; 16 thereof t-o itsrearend.adjacentto-tlie vjunction offthejsamewiththe shank,y Thepointedfrontend offthelblade 'is afri'aiiggedV below a line. coincident'with the'lowerlongi- Q k1,2, 4 and, whereby"Y upon turning thetudinaledge ofthe shank,` as s'hownin Figs.,-

b'lade.' upwardly'VI Aby the depression "ofL the shank andthe handlecoi'inec'tedtherewith', the blade willstill remain within-the 'slit "orlrerf which has been cutiii the canheadfwli'en theblade has. completedits stroke and the'.- shank or. handle' rest lon 4top Aof 'the lcan,thusyavoiding dis'engageinent''of|` the'fblade frfoiiil'Y the can aftereach cutting l stif'ole but' instead L keeping the blade within' fthevvlrei'f 17 and' gre'ssedyei'y rapidly and effectively' 'Tli'ejreaitpartjoffthe blade. a 'clj a'ceiit"to4 'I part. Orth@ blade in afan-@Quanaffightqangles to the cutting moveineritof the blade.

By this means the bladcaftereaclrcutting Q operation can beadvanced" andpusl'i'edjfully.

with the thin 'rear p'artof itsrcutting edgev into engagement withtlie'froi'it end ofthe kei-f and'enable'thje'jblade, toimined'iatel'ybe- 'l upwardlyand.` thus .facilitate the A,work of removinglfthelid oropeningthe cani Y Supporting ineans fare' provided to propvr erlysupportth'e' can open'eivon, Lthe top fof" l;

theY -can while the saline is` in' operationand l also. to4 prevent thecaril opener froni ,slipping backwards,A and#k preventing 'the lid whichis!y being cutout from interferinlgvwith niaking` a clean' cut',especially 'when t -i cfof 14 is curved and'proje'ct's forwardly and'enabling' 'the cuttingfoftlielidftobe p rof made next to the innersideof the body orr wall of the can. In their preferredV formV tovobtain a good gripon the Vseai'ned mai'-V ginal part of the can andprevent the tool from slipping backwards. 'This knurling, as shown at 21in Figs. 1, 2 and 7, preferably has the form of transverse ribs whichare V-shaped in'cioss section and thus eli'ectivelyprevent the tool fromslipping either Y forward or backward on the can during the cuttingoperation. i The inner bearing shoe 20 serves to hold down the severedportion of the lid, which tends to rise, and thus keeps the same down sothat the blade can .make

an effective yout which is clean and' close to Y the inner side of thewall aroundl the entire circumference'of the can, thereby avoiding y therough orraggededge on the can after the lid is cut from the same whichnot only renders it safer to handle the can when removing itscontentsfbut also enabling the can to be used as a cup or asareceptacle.

The two shoes of the bearing or supportfing device are preferablyconnected at their rear ends by a short transverse neck 22, as shown inFigs. 7 and 8. One of these shoes, preferably the outer one is providedwith a rearwardly projecting heel 23, and on its inner longitudinal edgethis heel is provided with an upstanding longitudinal attaching flange24 which is secured to the inner side of the tool shank, thus supportingthe bearing meansl thereon.V In the preferred con? struction the twobearing shoes, the neck between the saine, Athe heel and theattachingflange areformed .integrally from a single blank of'sheet metal, asshown in Fig. 8, thereby simplifying the constructionand i'educing thecost of manufacture. A

In order to make` the underside of the shank and the bearing deviceHush, the lower` longitudinal edge of the shank is provided with a notch25 which receivesthe neck and heel of the supporting device, 'as shownin Figs. 2 and 4, thus avoidin any objectionable corners on the toolwhich might injure the hand and also permit the saine to be cleaned andkept more easily in a sanitary i condition.

The handle-of the tool is preferably made hollow and constructed of twosections 26, 27 'and are divided lengthwise and'receive between them therear partof the shankv of thetool. The frontend 278 ofthe handlesectionlbears only against the lshank but the front part vof the otherhandle section not.

only bears against the shank. but is ralso Any suitable me provided witha laterally projecting off-set` pocket 29 forming a pocket whichreceives the rearend ofthe attaching ange of the supporting means. Y

Vans may be employed for holding the several parts of the tool in assembled position, for instance, as shown in Figs. l, 2, 3 and 4, thismay be accomplished by two rivets 30 passing transversely through thefront parts of the handle lsections and the shank and flange lyingbetween the same, and a rivetl passing through'the rear parts of thehandle sections and the shank.

This tool is not only very efficient for cut-y ting out lids of tin cansbut the same is also veryy strong and durable and notl liable to get outof order. A Y

I claim as mygin/vention: l. A can opener comprising. a longitudinalshank, anda curved vertically swinging blade which extends'forwardly anddownn wardly from said shank and its cutting edge on'the lperiphery,thereof and has that part thereof adj acent'to said. shank constructedto form a neck which is reduced in thickness in a directionat rightangles to the cutting movement of the blade, so that the front part ofthe blade. is vthick andthe rear part, of the same is narrow, `saidfront thick andvr with 'the part to be c ut when the can opener Yrearnarrow parts being alternately engaged is used. Y y A A Y 2. A canopener. comprising avlongitudinal shank, a ncurved blade which `extendsfolwardly andV downwardly fromsaid shank and has its cutting edge on theperiphery thereof, and means for supporting the shank and blade onV acan including two curved bearing` shoes arrangedv on opposite sides oftheshank andl having'their peripheries coaxial and facing'forwardly anddownwardly, and a neck connecting the rear parts of saidV SllOeS.v n f iI i y 'i 3., A can opener comprising ajlongitudi'- nal shank, a curvedblade which extends for,-

wardly and downwardly from said shanky and has its cutting-*edge ontheperiphery j thereof, and means for supporting the shank andblade on acan Vincluding two-curved bearing shoes arranged on opposite sides ofthe shank and having their peripheries coaxial and facing forwardly anddownwardly,

and a neck connecting the rear parts of said shoes', and said shankbeing provided on its underside with av notch which receivessaid nec r.

nal shank, a curved blade which extends for-` wardly and downwardlyvfrom said shank and has its cutting edge on the periphery thereof, andmeans for supporting the shankl and blade on a can including two curved.

4. A can opener comprising ka longitudia neck connecting the rear partsof said shoes, a heel extending rearwardly from one of said shoes, and aflange arranged at one ofthe longitudinal edges of said heel and securedto one side of said shank.

5. A can opener comprising a longitudinal shank, a curved blade whichextends forwardly and downwardly from said shank and has its cuttingedge on the periphery thereof, and means for supporting the shank yandblade von a can including two curved bearing shoes arranged on oppositesides of the shank and having their peripheries` c0- axial and facingforwardly and downwardly, a neck connecting the rear parts Vof saidshoes, a. heel extending rearwardly from one of said shoes, and flangearranged-at one of the longitudinal edges of said heel and secured toone side of said shank, said shank Vbeing provided on its lowerlongitudinal edge with a notch which receives said neck and heel. Y

6. A can opener comprising a longitudinally divided handle having itssections se-iV i cured to opposite sides of said shank and flange,v andone of said handle sections being provided at its front end 4with alaterally offset pocket which receives the rear part of l said flange.

ALBERT P. sTEBLER.

